Key legislators who craft state tax policy warn Iowans may see special fee increases as a result of the state’s budget crisis. Some lawmakers say a “park user fee” could help pay for maintenance of the 74 state-owned parks and recreation areas. Representative Don Shoultz of Waterloo, the top democrat on the House tax policy committee, says that’s just one of several ideas. He says it’s obvious more money needs to come in. Shoultz says “it will be a dance” the whole time as they look to raise fees. Republican Larry McKibben of Marshalltown, chairman of the Senate’s tax policy panel, says selling the state-owned “Iowa Communications Network is one of the ideas on the table to generate some cash.But McKibben says it’ll take more than a few fee increases and selling off some assets to fix the state’s budget woes. He says legislators grew government in the good times of the 90s and now have to seperate the “needs from the wants” in developing their budget.McKibben and Shoultz made their comments this weekend on Iowa Public Television.
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